The weekly messenger. [volume] (St. Martinsville [i.e. St. Martinville] La.) 1886-1948, 1887-08-27
The CREOLES OF
LOUISIANA;
Or, "reminiscences Of an Old
Acadian.
BY FELIX VOORHEES,.
BY FELIX VOORHEES,.

But KIND fTOvlQenco watched over
US. God tempereth the wind to the shorn
lamb! The thought of finding our los:
kindred kept up our tagging spirits.
We had been told that Louisiana was
land Of enchantment, where perpe-
tual spring reigned. land where the
soil was extremely fertile and where the
climate was so genial and temperate,
the sky so serene and azure that it we'll
merited the name Of Eden Of America.
To us, it smiled in the distance like
the promised land and towards ttat de-
lightful land We bent our tired and
weary steps, longing I or the day to dawn
when we should tread its soil and brea-
the once more the pure air in which fiOa-
ted the banner Of France.
At last we reached the Tennessee river
where it flowed around the base of a
mountain looming up hundreds Of feet.
Its banks we're rocky and precipitous,
falling straightdown at least hundred
feet, and We could see in the chasm be-
low the waters Of the river flowing mai
estically on its course to the grand old
Mississippi. 1t was out Of the question
to attempt to cross it there and we were
compelled to follow the roadway on its
banks around the mountain, advancing
cautiously to avoid the dangers that thr-
eatened us at every step. That night we
slept in large natural cave in the side
of the mountain on the brink of the pre-
cipice by the river.
At dawn Of day we resumed our march
and as we advanced the land grew more
and more level, and after four days Of
toll and fatigue we halted on hill by
the riverside, where a small creek runs
into the Tennessee river. There we met q
party Of Canadian hunters and trappers,
who gave US a friendly welcome and rep
lenished our store Of provisions with
game and venisOn. They informed us
that the easiest and least wearisOme
way to Louisiana was to float down the
Tennessee. the Ohio and the Mississippi
river to New Orleans. The plan sugge-
sted by them was adopted after mature
deiiberatiOn. and the men of our party,
aided by our Canadian friends, felled
trees TO build suitable boat.
Al this point Ne had the misfortune of
experiencing a great loss i'm the death of
our leader, Rene Leblanc. He was our
elder aud had been our leader and adyi-
ser in the hours of our sOrest trials. Old
age had shattered his constitution and
unequal to the fatigue Of our long pilgri.
mage he pinned away and sunk into his
grave without pang of acule suffering.
He died like hero and a Christian,
consoling us as We wept beside him and
cheering us in sorrow.
This death caused deep sorrow in our
party, and the night during which he
lay exposed. preparatory to his burial,
the silence that reigned in our camp was
unbrOken, save by our whispered words,
as ii We feared to disturb the slumber of
the great and good man that slept the
eternal sleep.
We buried him at the foot of the hill
In grove of walnut trees, on the bark
OF one Of the trees we carved cross, with
his name beneath it. and after having
said the prayers for the dead, his grave
was closed amidst the tears of those he
had loved so well and whose love they
return fOurfOld.
Petiots. my narrative. so far, has not
cen gay. but the gloom that darkens il